1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an injection molding machine, and more particularly, to an injection molding machine having a guide device to guide coupling of molds and supporting plates and assembling of the molds.
2. Description of the Related Art
An injection molding machine is a machine that produces a molded product by injecting molten resin into a cavity defined by molds at a high pressure and solidifying the resin.
An injection molding machine generally includes molds to define a cavity, supporting plates to support the molds, and a high pressure cylinder to inject molten resin into the cavity. At least one of the supporting plates is moved to achieve coupling or separation of the molds.
When producing a molded product of a different size or shape by use of an injection molding machine, the molds mounted to the supporting plates can be replaced. The replacement of the molds is realized in such a manner that the existing molds are removed from the supporting plates and then new molds are mounted to the supporting plates. At this time, because the molds are so heavy, a crane or the like is used for the replacement work. A plurality of bolts are tightened to securely fix the molds to the supporting plates. Such a work is identically applied also when the molds are to be partially modified or repaired.
However, in the above conventional injection molding machine, because moving the heavy molds is difficult, aligning centers of the molds with centers of the supporting plates when the molds are mounted to the supporting plates is difficult. Also, because the centers of the molds may deviate from the centers of the supporting plates in the process of tightening the bolts, mounting the molds to correct positions is difficult. Also, if the molds are thermally deformed, assembling errors may be generated in the mold mounting process. The assembling errors of the molds may cause a problem of misalignment of the centers of the molds assembled with each other, and as a result may create defects of molded products.